Munnar: In a dramatic incident at a newly launched sky dining facility in Anachal near Munnar in Kerala’s Idukki district, five individuals — including a four-member tourist family from Kannur and a staff member were stranded mid-air for more than three hours after a technical malfunction halted the crane used to lift the dining platform.
After close to three hours of rescue work, all five who were stranded in the air were brought down safely.
The adventure tourism project, which offers guests a unique experience of dining 120 feet above ground, ran into trouble on Friday evening when the crane reportedly failed to lower the platform due to a sudden mechanical glitch.
Rescue efforts were immediately initiated, and authorities managed to safely bring all individuals down.
The children were rescued first as a precautionary measure, including a two-and-a-half-year-old toddler.
According to officials, trained staff from the Kerala Fire and Rescue Services, along with local emergency support teams, oversaw the evacuation, ensuring that panic was avoided.
Visuals of the suspended sky dining platform shown on TV channels here drew widespread attention and raised concerns over safety protocols in adventure tourism.
The sky dining concept, introduced recently as part of Kerala’s tourism promotion initiatives, allows 15 people at a time to dine while enjoying panoramic aerial views for over 30 minutes.
Participants are strapped into seats attached to a platform lifted by a crane.
The experience has quickly become popular among tourists seeking thrill and novelty.
However, Friday’s incident has sparked debate over safety standards and regulatory oversight.
While officials attributed the trouble to a “technical malfunction”, tourism department sources indicated that a detailed inspection would be conducted to assess the structural and operational safety of the facility.
Though all participants were brought down safely without injury, the incident has raised alarm over the growing trend of high-risk tourism ventures.
Local authorities have assured that strict safety audits will be undertaken to prevent such mishaps in the future, emphasizing that public safety remains paramount even as the State seeks to boost its adventure tourism appeal.
(IANS)
